The New Diesel Fuel
by DonaldDouglasandToby6
Summary: This is a loose adaptation of Thomas to the Rescue. After Diesel makes Thomas go to the Steamworks, some new fuel makes all the Diesel locomotives sick.


It was a regular morning as Thomas the Tank Engine was puffing into Knapford Yards, to collect his coaches.

He looked from siding to siding but he couldn't find them anywhere.

"That's odd," Thomas said to himself, "Our timetable does say we're supposed to take a morning passenger train."

Stanley puffed alongside, whistling a greeting.

"Hello Thomas! What are you still doing here? You were supposed to be at the station by now."

Thomas sighed.

"I know, but Annie and Clarabel are nowhere to be found!"

"That _is_ odd," Stanley murmured, "Why don't we go look for them?"

Thomas puffed forward, surveying the yard again.

"All I see are trains for other engines, but not mine."

Suddenly two voices cried out, "Thomas! Over here!"

Thomas and Stanley exchanged a look.

"Where are you?" shouted Thomas.

"Behind these big express coaches and coal trucks," Annie spluttered, "Ugh, it smells funny back here."

"Why are you back _there_?" Thomas asked worriedly, "One of the shunting engines was supposed to have the train out in the open so I could collect them."

He looked to Stanley.

"It wasn't me," Stanley protested, "I was just on the other side of the yard."

"Then who was it?" Thomas said.

"Diesel shunted us," Clarabel explained tartly, "He thought it'd be funny to make you late."

"Botheration!" scowled Thomas, "Stanley, can you help me move this rolling stock?"

"Oh, sure," replied Stanley, "I don't have another train due for a while."

So the two tank engines sorted the express coaches and the coal trucks out of the way for other engines to collect.

"At last," Thomas sighed as he backed down onto Annie and Clarabel, "Sorry for bothering you, Stanley."

"It's nothing," Stanley said kindly, "I'll be sure to tell off that Diesel next time I see him."

"I'd like to do so too," Thomas sighed, "But I can't be any later than I already am," and he bustled to the station.

On the platform, passengers were buzzing like bees in front of the Fat Controller's office.

"We want our money back, Sir Topham!"

"Your railway's better than this!"

"Seriously? After all this time?"

"I spent many dollars on this train ride!"

The Fat Controller walked out, holding his ears while his bodyguards blocked the mob from him.

"Please, everyone, calm down!"

The mob, though, kept on complaining.

The Fat Controller wasn't amused.

"Can someone get a megaphone?"

A bodyguard nodded and ran off.

He quickly came back with one.

"I won't even ask where you got that," the stout gentleman murmured as he cleared his throat into the megaphone.

The passengers suddenly got quiet.

"Now, what's wrong?"

"Thomas isn't here with his coaches yet!" a man cried indignantly.

"What?!"

"It's true, sir," said the stationmaster, walking toward him, "He's quite late indeed."

As soon as the Fat Controller was about to storm to the shed to scold him, Thomas puffed into the station, out of breath.

"Thomas, where were you?!" the Fat Controller spluttered.

"I'm sorry sir, but Diesel moved my coaches to behind some other rolling stock, and Stanley and I had to find them," he cried.

The Fat Controller groaned.

"I see this isn't your fault. Don't worry; I'll talk to Diesel immediately. You go on now with your jobs."

The relieved passengers climbed aboard and Thomas puffed away.

Later that day, Thomas was taking a train of new tools to the quarry, so the workmen could collect stone easier.

As he arrived at the entrance, Diesel rushed out of nowhere and banged into him, forcing Thomas back.

"Diesel?! What on Earth are you doing?!" Thomas burst out.

"This is for tattle-tailing on me this morning!" the BR Class 08 growled as Thomas tried to stop, but he couldn't.

The driver desperately tried to hold the brake lever, but Diesel was stronger at the moment.

"Diesel, stop! I'll get a wheel flat!" Thomas cried desperately.

"That's the idea!" Diesel fumed as with a burst of speed, he sent Thomas flying backwards, with his brakes sparking.

Wincing with pain, the tank engine finally stopped.

Silence fell over the quarry.

Thomas stared at Diesel with surprise, who didn't seem to even care.

Mavis trundled up, gasping in horror.

"Diesel, I heard the screech from brakes all the way on the other side of the quarry! What did you do to poor Thomas?"

"Nothing, Mavis," Diesel lied, "He pushed me."

"Don't lie to me," Mavis scolded, "What actually happened, Thomas?"

"He pushed me for no reason while my brakes were on, Mavis..."

"I see," Mavis said, glaring at Diesel, "The Fat Controller will hear of this, Diesel. I'm personally disappointed in your little stunt. I'm sorry, Thomas."

Thomas sighed.

"It's alright, Mavis..."

His driver examined his engine's wheels and frowned.

"It's just as I thought. You have flat tyres, Thomas. You'll have to go to the Steamworks..."

Thomas just scowled at Diesel, who smirked with triumph.

A while later, The Fat Controller arrived onboard Percy, who had arrived to take Thomas to the Steamworks with Rocky.

He clambered down from the cab, looking furious.

"Diesel, this is the second time you've gotten into trouble today! I'm sick and tired of your games, and something has to be done about it!"

"Take away Thomas and I'll behave sir. Promise," Diesel sneered.

The Fat Controller was losing patience.

"I demand a legitimate explanation right now, which you most likely can't provide!"

"Well sir, Thomas lied about-"

"Actually sir, Diesel wanted revenge for the 'shunting situation' that happened at Tidmouth," Mavis interrupted.

The Fat Controller looked to the other Diesel.

"Diesel, this is getting old. You should know by now that this sort of behavior is unacceptable on my railway."

Diesel just sat in silence as his owner told him off.

Percy watched with worry as Rocky lifted Thomas onto a flatbed.

"There you go, Thomas," the crane said, "All secure."

"Thanks Rocky..."

"You don't sound thankful," Rocky observed.

"Oh, I am, but it's just... I've had a bad day today. It's nothing on your part."

Percy whistled and started to puff out of the quarry and into the open landscape.

"I'm sorry this had to happen, Thomas. Diesel makes me so mad sometimes!" Percy cried.

"It's not your fault, Percy. I'm sure Diesel will get into trouble soon. He always does."

"He better... We deserve better than him."

The two engines arrived at the Steamworks.

Victor was arranging some conflats with wheels when Percy came to a stop.

"Oh, hello Victor," the green engine said, noticing the blue wheels, "Did you know we were going to arrive?"

"Of course, my friend. The manager told me that the Fat Controller phoned him that Thomas needs some new wheels."

The narrow gauge engine looked sympathetically to Thomas.

"I know how it must feel to not be on your branch line for a while, Thomas, but look on the bright side; you'll get new wheels!"

Thomas sighed.

"...yay..."

Meanwhile, at the Vicarstown Dieselworks, Norman arrived with a train of Diesel fuel.

"Here's the new fuel that the manager ordered, Den and Dart. Fresh from the Mainland."

Den grinned.

"Thank you Norman. This'll... um... uh..."

"What Den means to say is that the fuel will give us a lot of trouble," Dart stated.

Norman and Den stared with confusion.

"What? That is what you mean, right?"

"...um... No, Dart. I was trying to say it'll be Really Useful."

Dart chuckled nervously.

"Oh. Silly me."

Norman and Den rolled their eyes.

First, the Diesel fuel was put into Norman's tank.

"This feels so much better than the old fuel," Norman grinned, "Delightful."

Next were Den and Dart.

"For some reason I do feel this fuel is bad somehow," Dart said worriedly, "Ya think it is?"

"Nonsense," Den said, 'I'm sure it's just your... um..."

"Pancakes?" Dart grinned cheekily.

"Dart, even you would know I wouldn't say that..."

"Right. It's my nerves. Something just doesn't feel right though..."

"I think you're worrying again, Dart. It'll be fine."

Norman honked his horn as he set off for the Diesel refueling station at the Coaling Plant.

"It was nice seeing you again, you two!"

"Indeed... I've got nothing to say, I just wanted to say that." Dart said.

Den just grunted.

An hour later, as Norman came to a stop beside the refueling station, Hector eyed the Diesel.

"What's that on your flatbed, Norman?"

"It's just some new fuel for the Diesels," Norman explained, "It's from the Mainland. It has a reputation for being better for a Diesel engine."

"Is that so...?" Hector said, "I wouldn't put too much faith into something you only just encountered. New things have its...kinks."

"I think it's safe. Hasn't backfired for me, yet," Norman replied as he rushed away.

Hector frowned, a little worried.

Throughout the rest of the day, all of the Diesels on the North Western Railway took on the new fuel.

And all seemed to have the same opinion.

"Simply glorious!" Daisy hummed as her engine roared.

"Best fuel I've ever had," Salty chortled.

"Wow," said Sidney.

"Don't you have anything else to say?" asked Paxton, who was refueling beside him.

"Nope."

At Ffarquhar Quarry, Mavis and Diesel were being refueled.

Toby watched on a nearby siding.

"All this fuss over some oil," Henrietta scoffed, "Quite petty, if you ask me."

Toby couldn't help but giggle.

"I heard that," Diesel fumed, "At least we have fuel."

"...shots fired," Toby muttered.

Henrietta just sulked as fuel was poured into Diesel's tanks.

He grinned as the workman nodded to Diesel's driver.

The engine soon roared to life.

Diesel instantly started to show off.

"Ha, I'm stronger than ever before! Maybe I will shunt 25 trucks this time!"

Toby couldn't help but smirk as Diesel's boasting began to get the better of him.

The BR Class 08 surged forward, biffing some trucks, who started to grumble.

"Hey! Knock it off!"

"My buffer hurts."

"I think a stone just flew in my mouth..."

"Watch it, Diesel!" Mavis warned, "You're going to get hurt!"

"There's no need to," Diesel smirked, "I'm stronger than any old stupid steam engine."

But just as Diesel was about to biff the trucks again, his engine spluttered.

He looked back, alarmed.

"What the-"

Before he could finish, black smoke billowed from his exhaust and he started coughing.

Toby gasped.

"Diesel? Are you alright?"

"Do I look fine?!" Diesel spluttered.

Mavis wasn't far behind as she too started to cough as thick smoke started to cover the quarry.

From his office window, the quarry manager could see that something was wrong.

"What on Earth...?"

He walked out the door and jumped at the sight.

"Oh no! Something must've been in that new fuel!"

"Quick," Toby cried, "Inspect the fuel. Something must be wrong with it!"

Diesel and Mavis were quickly shut down.

The two still coughed though as the quarry manager ran off to inspect a fuel drum that was left over.

"Toby's right; there's water that must've leaked into the tanks!"

And it wasn't just Mavis and Diesel; all over Sodor, the Diesel engines ground to a halt.

BoCo...

"Why am I slowing down in the middle of the line? Edward will have to come through with a passenger train soon," he said worriedly.

...Salty...

"Salty, why did you stop?" asked Porter with concern.

"Argh matey, it seems my fuel is contaminated."

"Well that's just great..." Cranky scowled...

...Paxton...

"Get your wheels moving, Paxton!" Skarloey said urgently as he puffed up to the green Diesel, "This slate needs to be taken to Cronk!"

"I, uh... I can't move, Skarloey..."

"Why not?" the narrow gauge engine asked suspiciously.

"Because I broke down... Um... Sorry..."

Skarloey sighed.

...and Daisy, along with every other Diesel.

"This is just perfect, Ryan... When I first arrived I'd be happy to get out of work, bot now *cough* I feel awful!"

"I can imagine..." Ryan said sadly.

The quarry manager ran back into his office to telephone the Fat Controller.

"Sir, some new fuel has caused the Diesels to break down."

"What?! That blasted Dieselworks manager! I'll send some new fuel at once."

Then the Fat Controller telephoned the Dock Manager.

"Ask the Mainland for new fuel, on the double! All our Diesels are broken down!"

"Yes sir!"

The Fat Controller hung up, worried about the loss of all his Diesel engines.

Later that day, a ship arrived with the new fuel on board.

The Fat Controller, thinking of an idea of how to transport it, drove straight to the Steamworks.

"I'm fixed already, Victor?" Thomas asked in surprise as he was lowered back down to the rails by the hoist.

"Well, of course, my friend. All we had to do was give you new wheels."

"Right, boss! It was a simple repair, if I do say so!" Kevin exclaimed as he drove up.

"That's only because you didn't drop anything, Kevin," Victor teased.

"Don't ruin this, boss."

The Fat Controller suddenly drove up in his car.

Thomas, Victor, and Kevin's attention was directed to the Fat Controller, walking up to Thomas.

"Thomas, there's a bit of an emergency. The new fuel for the Dieselworks that we brought in is contaminated with water, so I need you to collect some brand new fuel from Brendam Docks and take it to all the Diesels on Sodor."

Thomas was confused.

"Me sir?"

"Yes, you. The other engines are too busy doing the Diesels' work as well as their own."

Thomas chuckled.

"Alright, sir! Off I go!"

And Thomas headed off for the Docks, thinking about what to say to Diesel when they next met.

Salty's tank was already drained and refilled with the proper fuel, so he already felt better.

"Argh, that fuel was horrid!" the Diesel shuddered, "Though I suppose it does remind me of a story."

"Does everything remind you of a story?" Porter asked.

"Well, uh..."

Thomas whistled as he came to a halt beside Porter, luckily halting the conversation.

"Oh, you're here. Here's the fuel, Thomas," Porter said.

"Thank you!" Thomas exclaimed as he started to push the heavy trucks.

It was a bit of hard work, but with some sand, Thomas started off down the rails.

First, Thomas found BoCo and Derek at Wellsworth Sheds, with Edward consoling them.

"Oh, you're here, Thomas. Thank goodness," Edward smiled, "I best be off."

Edward whistled and puffed away.

The old fuel was drained and the new fuel was poured in.

"That's better," BoCo said happily, "Thanks, Thomas."

"Indeed," agreed Derek, "That was worse than overheating any day!"

Next, Thomas rescued Bear and Dennis.

"Darn it, I have to work now..." Dennis complained.

Bear shot him a glare.

Thomas giggled as he steamed away.

The third stop was the Blue Mountain Quarry, where Paxton was still not moving.

"Thomas!" he cheered as the blue tank engine puffed up.

"Hello Paxton! Fresh fuel, and we mean it this time!"

"Thank goodness..." muttered Skarloey.

After that was the Shunting Yard.

"I forgot what happened," Sidney said.

"We broke down...and I did again..." Norman explained.

"I see," Thomas said flatly.

"Who are you again, no. 1?" Sidney asked.

Thomas blinked.

At the Dieselworks, Diesel 10, Den and Dart were also being given their fuel.

"Help from a steam engine... Urgh..." Diesel 10 scowled.

"I told you this would cause trouble," Dart winked.

Den just sighed as their tanks were refueled.

Fifthly was the Smelter's Yard.

"Do you think they forgot about us, Bert?"

"Probably, 'Arry..."

But at the sound of Thomas' whistle, the two Diesels beamed.

"For the first time ever, I'm glad Thomas exists," Bert exclaimed.

Thomas rolled his eyes as the fuel was unloaded.

"Very funny, you two..."

"I know. We're funnier than the best comedian," 'Arry snorted.

"Does that make us he best comedians or are they still the best comedian, creating a paradox?"

"Shut up, Bert."

The second-to-last stop was Harwick on the new branch line.

Thomas was pleased to see Ryan and Daisy again.

"We sure do miss you, Daisy," Thomas said kindly as he came to a halt, "Your banter kept things interesting."

Daisy genuinely smiled.

"Indeed it did. But chatting with Ryan is fun too, I suppose."

Ryan giggled.

"How's your line, Thomas?"

"Just fine. How's yours? It must be a big responsibility."

"Oh, it is, I guess. But I do have help," Ryan grinned.

Soon, Thomas was out on the Main Line again.

"Final stop, Ffarquhar Quarry..." he snickered, looking forward to seeing Diesel's expression.

By the time Thomas panted into the quarry on his line, he felt exhausted.

Toby and Mavis were pleased.

"Well done, Thomas!" Toby cried, "We heard that you went all across the island to give the Diesels their fuel!"

"Well, I couldn't leave them hanging," Thomas grinned.

Mavis smiled.

"Thanks Thomas. I sure could use it. I still don't feel that great."

Diesel coughed and gagged.

Thomas chuckled.

"Why does he still have the bad fuel?"

"We figured he deserved it," commented the quarry manager, "You want to apologize, Diesel?"

Diesel just coughed.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Diesel's driver shut him off, and the bad fuel was drained.

"Oh... Finally..." Diesel wheezed.

He blinked when he saw Thomas smirking at him.

"Oh... um... Did you... really do this for... _all_ the Diesels?"

"Of course. Despite a few being devious, they don't deserve to be like that."

Diesel considered, quite surprised.

As the fuel was swapped, the Fat Controller drove up in Winston, who was in awe.

"I can't believe you went all over the island, Thomas! That takes a lot of effort!"

"it certainly does, dear Winston," the Fat Controller agreed, "Well done. I'll give you a new coat of paint for your hard work. You did very well, giving fuel to everyone."

Thomas smiled modestly.

"Thank you sir!"

"And Diesel, I think you owe someone an apology..."

"That's what I said!" Mavis cried.

Diesel looked down to the ground, then up at Thomas.

"...um...sorry Thomas... I... uh... was acting...rather foolish... I'm sorry..."

Thomas smiled.

"Apology accepted."

Diesel was surprised.

"Really?"

"Well, I never not accept apologies, Diesel. Even if they come from a devious engine like you!"

"Oh... Well in that case, you actually did do a good job with that fuel..."

Thomas smiled, as did Mavis, Toby, and the Fat Controller; perhaps Diesel had more good in him than people gave him credit for.


End file.
